The Flower Gallery
by ass-sassin
Summary: 'Her parents knew she was different from the day she was born, when her startlingly emerald eyes had opened with an awareness that did not belong to a newborn child. And perhaps it was that awareness that set her apart from the beginning.'
1. Chapter 1

_**Prologue**_

Lily Evans had always held a certain appreciation for the arts.

She loved music.

She loved painting.

She loved dancing and singing.

Her mother was a ballet teacher. Lily had tried her hand at the style, but she could never quite stand straight enough, nor could she balance on her toes for very long. Petunia was always more akin to her mother in that sense.

Her father was an inventor. Albeit, he never had a steady job, but he was constantly alight with ideas and creations – there was rarely a dull moment when he was around. It drove her mother and sister mad, but Lily was quite fond of his unorthodox antics.

Her sister was a kindergarten teacher. Well, a kindergarten teacher in training. It had come as quite a shock to the rest of the Evans' when Petunia had announced the position she'd gained at the local school. Their surprise was not without reason, however, as Petunia had never been one for patience, and had certainly never tolerated screaming, messy children before. But that job was her dream, and her family was willing to support her wholeheartedly.

Lastly, but certainly not least, she was a witch. Her parents knew she was different from the day she was born, when her startlingly emerald eyes had opened with an awareness that did not belong to a newborn child.

And perhaps it was that awareness that set her apart from the beginning.

_**August, 1977**_

_**Cokeworth**_

A swift tapping at her window announced the arrival of her pet owl, Wendy. She hurriedly untied its burden; an envelope, sealed with the school crest, as well as the latest edition of The Daily Prophet, from the owl's tawny leg, petting it affectionately before letting it back into its cage beside her wardrobe.

"Lily, darling, tea's ready!" called Daisy Evans from her perch on the couch, her shout travelling up to her youngest daughter's room.

"Be down in a minute, mum!" the redhead called back, hoping her mother didn't catch the slight tremor in her tone.

With a barely discernible sigh, she let that morning's edition of The Daily Prophet drop to her bed with a muted thump.

Five Muggles dead, three Muggle-borns injured.

Five _Muggles _dead, three _Muggle-borns_ injured.

_Five Muggles dead, three Muggle-borns injured. _

The headline of the wizarding newspaper flashed through her mind over and over, almost like a mantra as she made her way down the narrow staircase for tea.

She wandered into the lounge room and absentmindedly plonked herself on the couch, tucking her fluffily socked feet up beneath her.

"Lily, dear, are you quite alright?" her mother frowned, setting her cup carefully back into the saucer.

Lily shook her mane of crimson locks, jolting herself out of her trance, "I'm fine, mum," she murmured, offering a small smile to the fair haired woman in hopes it would console her.

Daisy eyed her daughter sceptically, raising an immaculate brow before straightening her back, looking precisely like the ballerina she was, and setting her cup onto the coffee table.

"Don't give me that nonsense, love," she scoffed gently, "you can confide in your old mum! Is it problems with your friends? Boys? School?"

"No mum," said Lily with a sigh, "nothing like that… it's just-" she hesitated, biting her lip as she twirled a lock of hair around her dainty finger, quite unsure as to how much she should divulge about the wizarding war at hand.

"Lily," Daisy prompted gently, placing her hand on her daughter's pale knee, "I know there's something bothering you, darling, and you know you can trust me with this."

Lily opened her mouth to deny her mother's claims, but she stopped short when her emerald eyes met those knowing blue orbs. "It's getting worse every day, mum," she whispered, averting her eyes to the cream carpet as she nervously twisted her silver ring around her finger.

Daisy's brow crumpled in worry, not needing further explanation. She'd heard her daughter's watered down explanation of the genocide-like war taking place in the wizarding world. And, unbeknownst to Lily, Daisy and Mark had received a few owls from Headmaster Dumbledore in regards to the dangerous times as of late. She shook off the creeping sense of foreboding she felt at the Headmaster's description of the _oncoming storm_, instead opting to smile gently at her brilliant daughter.

"You're returning to Hogwarts tomorrow, love," she soothed, "It's safe there, so don't you fret your pretty little head!"

"It's not me I'm worried about," Lily muttered glumly, worry still creasing her brow.

Daisy sighed tiredly, shaking her head at her daughter's unquestionable selflessness, "How about you head upstairs and get to packing? I'll bring some tea and biscuits up to you, dear," she offered generously.

Lily nodded, but remained deep in thought as she rose and traipsed back to her room. Engrossed in her own musings as she was, she walked right past the noticeably bulkier school envelope, thinking nothing of the fact that she'd already received her school supply list a week prior.

As she opened her trunk and drew her willow wand, she grinned roguishly.

She was going back to Hogwarts, and boy would it be a year to remember.

_**Please read and review! :)**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**September, 1977**_

_**London **_

The sharp whistle of the red steam engine sounded precisely at eleven o'clock on the morning of September first.

A boy with startlingly messy black hair lunged up onto the scarlet locomotive, grasping the carriage wall for support as he leant back out of the train.

"Sirius!" he cried, "Hurry, you'll have to jump!"

With a jolt, the wheels beneath him started to turn, slowly, but steadily, about to leave another dark haired teen behind.

Sirius Black shook his sweeping hair out of his eyes as he gave a little old woman one last hug before bolting after the steam engine, arm outreached to grasp his friend's hand.

With a heave, the messy haired boy wrenched his mate up beside him, both of them grinning like fools.

"We're going back to Hogwarts!" Sirius announced, a wry grin twisting handsomely onto his face.

"Another year of mischief won't hurt," the messy one announced, pushing his square framed glasses further up his slightly crooked nose.

"James! Sirius!" a voice called from the narrow corridor.

The two troublemakers smirked mischievously at one another, "Moony!" they bellowed simultaneously, both ricocheting off the walls to get to their friend.

"Argh!" Remus Lupin cried as he was taken in a headlock and cursed with the jelly legs jinx in one motion. "When I imagined our reunion, I wasn't expecting anything grand, but I wasn't counting on _this_ either!"

"Why, what _ever _are you talking about, Moony?" James scoffed, still refusing to relinquish his grip around the fair haired boy's neck.

"This reunion _is_ grand!" Sirius supplied, grinning impishly and taking care to wink at a few flustered sixth year girls that'd stuck their heads out of their compartment to find the source of commotion.

"Come on, come on, I want to get a good compartment!" Remus declared, shaking himself free of James' arms and glaring fiercely at Sirius until he uttered the counter jinx.

The three seventh year Gryffindor boys made their way towards the back of the train, poking their heads in every few compartments to give a brief hello to their classmates as they passed through.

"Oh, lads, I almost forgot!" James exclaimed slapping his palm to his forehead, "I've got to get to the prefects meeting!"

Sirius sniggered behind his hand as he followed Remus into the last compartment, "Good luck breaking to news to Evans!"

Remus shared a grin with the estranged Black, "Yeah, good luck! And direct Peter back here, will you? He's probably wandering somewhere along the train trying to find us."

"Will do!" James called over his shoulder as hurriedly made his way back the way he'd come, unconsciously bringing a hand up to ruffle his already uncontrollable hair. "Play it cool, Potter," he muttered to himself, "no more prattish behaviour in front of her or you'll just undo your past sixth months of effort."

He burst into the large compartment just as the Head Girl, his fellow Gryffindor, Lily Evans, stood to give the introductory speech.

"Hello, James," she greeted him, not unkindly, "I thought you'd be a little late."

"I'm here for the meeting," he blurted out, regretting it immediately when he realised Dumbledore would've mentioned it in his letter to her. _Way to play the idiot as usual, Potter!_

"Yes, Dumbledore mentioned it in his letter," she told him, chuckling at his state of disarray.

"Oh – erm, yes – well let's get started – or whatever you had in mind – I don't know how this is supposed to go – uh, yeah," James stuttered, earning a few giggles and snorts from the small crowd or prefects. He fought back a frown, _strike two!_

"Come on James, I think we should introduce ourselves," Lily said, loud enough for the other members of the compartment to hear.

The tall boy did her bidding, and stood beside her, quite astonished to find he was now a full head and a half taller than her. "Merlin, Evans, have you shrunk or something?" he whispered, nudging her gently all the while fighting back a smirk.

She shook her head, a soft smile playing at her lips before she looked out to the prefects to address them. "To the new few of you, welcome. To everyone else, welcome back," she said with a warm glance over them all, "I'm Lily, and this is James. We will be your leaders for the duration of the year. Our job, collectively as well as individually, is to uphold the rules set out to keep up safe when we return to Hogwarts. We must be adamant in our care of the students, as times are dark and even Hogwarts is threatened by the ever-growing shadow."

The younger students' faces darkened at the mention of the war, but Lily powered on, "Being a prefect does not solely consist of taking and giving house points and detentions, nor is it contained to rounds of the school after curfew. Being a prefect means taking care of Hogwarts and everyone in it to the best of your ability. You were all chosen because of your promising leadership skills and your respective abilities to take control of situations, and one day you may very well be standing in the place of James and I."

James nodded his head, his face solemn.

"So try your hardest, and be the best you can be. We," she gestured to James and herself, "will be here to guide you as well as we can. James," she turned to her counterpart, "would you like to have a word?"

James gulped nervously, running a jumpy hand through his static hair before looking to the others in the compartment, "None of us can deny that there's a serious war going on anymore," he announced, eyes lingering on the few Slytherin prefects present, "and though we may leave Hogwarts to take sides, within the walls of Hogwarts there will be _no_ sides. The only side there will be is the one that keeps everyone safe. Got it?"

Lily nodded encouragingly to him, and he rounded up the meeting.

"Everyone write your name, house and time you can patrol on this," James held up a patrol schedule calendar, "and go 'round to all the first years to make sure they're set for the school year."

"Don't forget to help them to the boats when we get to Hogsmeade!" Lily added before everyone swarmed to the calendar.

While they waited for the prefects to fill in the spaces, James turned to Lily, his hand jumping up to rub the back of his neck absently, "How were your hols?" he asked tentitavely as he kicked at the carpeted floor with his foot.

"They were wonderful," she sighed, remembering the summer days spent lounging about with her family, "though I am quite excited to get started at Hogwarts again."

"That's fantastic!" James grinned, "And thank merlin, I thought I was the only one looking forward to getting back to school!"

"What did you get up to these holidays?" Lily enquired, her bright green eyes surveying him attentively.

"Er… they weren't too bad…" he muttered, his hand once again leaping to his hair.

Lily tilted her head questioningly to the side, seeming to sense his unease, "Is everything alright, James?" she murmured softly enough for him to hear, but not the other nosey students in the room.

James shrugged his broad shoulders, "I guess… just y'know, with the war… and my parents – well – they aren't – they're actually very – uh… er – not in the best health right now," he babbled, stumbling over his words haphazardly.

"Oh," she nodded in understanding, but pity, the pity James so despised from everyone else who'd heard the news, was absent from both her face and her tone. "I hope they get well soon."

James nodded, his eyes darkening as his two, frail parents flashed through his mind. Lost in thought as he was, he didn't hear the other prefects leave the room, nor did he see Lily collect the papers and turn to him until she laid a small hand on his arm.

"James," she called, pulling him out of his reflective stupor.

"Y-yeah?"

"Let me know if you need anything, alright? I'll see you when we get to Hogsmeade." And with that, the redhead spun on her heel and hurried out of the compartment.

So he was left in the compartment, a dazed smile plastered to his face – she'd _talked_ to him! Well, she always talked to him – but this time she wasn't just being polite! She was sincere! James' heart leapt in his chest and he hurried out to tell his friends the good news.

The handsome, smooth-talking, Quidditch captain, straight-O student, James Potter, was mad for Lily Evans, and it seemed like he finally had a clean slate with her. Maybe he was bonkers, but to him, the year was his chance to prove to Lily Evans how much _better_ he was than last year, to prove how he'd matured and improved himself in an attempt to be the best Head Boy he could possibly be.

And it was all for her.

All for Lily Evans.

_**A/N: hello friends!  
So I know how many typical Lily and James stories start off like this, but I promise I'll try to make it as anti-stereotypical as possible! Let me know what you think of this chapter, ask any questions you have and submit your suggestions for character development! **_

_**I'll also be taking requests for any scenes you guys want written so don't be afraid to review or PM me **_____


	3. Chapter 3

**I am so, so, so, so, so, so sorry for the wait, dear readers. I have had major writers block with this story and I apologise profusely. I'm running a little low on motivation, so if you like what you see, please don't refrain from reviewing! **

**So sorry again!**

* * *

_**September, 1977**_

_**Hogsmeade**_

Lily smiled as she hopped off the train, a slight bounce in her step as she began herding the sea of frightened first years towards the boats.

Try as she may, she couldn't keep her eyes off the twinkling lights of Hogsmeade. It was beautiful in Autumn, alas grey and chilled, but still beautiful to her.

A light breeze swept past her, ruffling her long hair as it went. As tempted as she was to hop on to one of the boats and sneak in behind the first years to catch the castle in that light for one last time, she resisted, instead shrugging and strolling back towards the carriages.

"Psst! Lily!" came a voice from the bushes behind her.

Jumping slightly, she spun on her heel, squinting to see through the dark.

"Over here!" the voice came again.

Placing her hand on her wand cautiously, she edged towards the tree line.

Suddenly a hand shot out and tugged her into the light foliage. Just managing to supress a yelp, Lily searched her captor's face in the darkness for a hint of their identity.

With difficulty, she caught the glimpse of the moon in two patches of square glass.

"James?" she whispered, caution marring her tone.

"Come with me!" he whispered, though it came out sounding as though he were an excited child on Christmas morning.

Lily didn't have the heart to question him - she'd never seen him so genuinely excited to show her something. And she had to admit, her curiosity was gnawing ferociously at her insides and she struggled not to let it show as she slowed her pace.

"No, no, no! Come on, faster!" James whispered back to her, "It'll leave without us!"

If that didn't ignite the fire in her eyes, then Lily didn't know what did. She and James went running back to the lake, where they came to an abrupt halt at the shore. There, sitting solitarily and completely still, was a little boat – the very same as the ones they'd been carried in on in first year.

James' excitement began wavering at her silence. "I just thought it was fitting, you know – seeing how it's our last year and we're the head students and all…" he trailed of, looking notably off-put.

"What are you waiting for?" Lily almost squealed, "Let's go!"

James stood dumbly on the shore as Lily vaulted herself into the dinghy-like boat, almost quivering with anticipation. "_Come on, James!_"

With a start, the tall boy hurried on to the boat, back to his exited, puppy-like self once more.

Lily thought he looked quite cute.

The boat gently glided off the shore with the slight lap of the still water on the sides.

The Black Lake was living up to it's name that night. The water was darker than the deep blue of the sky, reflecting the twinkling stars above like a pristine mirror.

Lily felt like she was floating. With only of the glint of the moon to light th way, everything around them was cast into darkness. It was them, the little boat and the infinity that were the stars.

Surprisingly, it felt more magical to Lily than anything had in her six years at the school.

Something about feeling devoid of time, devoid of the world, devoid of everything but the little boat, James Potter and the stars – that was magic.

She didn't even realise her hand had found James', but lo and behold their hands were suddenly joined. Not a word was spoken between them, but a sense of mutual companionship surrounded them like a fog.

And then the grand castle of Hogwarts came into sight.

If Lily thought the stars were magical, then Hogwarts must have been a heaven of sorts.

It shone upon the grounds like a beacon of warmth, like a sign of hope, like a… like a _home_.

Magic was perhaps the most important element of change in Lily's life – and though it had thoroughly severed her relationship with her sister, she wouldn't have given it up for the world.

Perhaps it was selfish of her, to covet her talents as she did, to never wish them away in hopes of some affection from her sister, but she thought that selfishness was a small price to pay for this world of wonder.

With a start she realised she was gripping James' hand rather tightly – but it seemed that he was gripping hers just as much. It came as a surprise to her that she didn't mind.

Caught up in her amazement as she was, she didn't see the reaction of the boy beside her.

He was watching the castle just as well, the reflection of the magnificent structure reflecting brightly in the glass squares of his finely rimmed spectacles.

To him, Hogwarts would forever be the place where his childhood had begun.

He had the misfortune of being born to an old couple. By the time he could read and write, they were already too exhausted to entertain him and so they showered him with gifts and toys and love. Despite his materialistic fortune, he never had any sense of childish joy.

When he wanted to run around in the garden, his parents wanted to teach him the fine art of chess. While he wanted to read books about dragons and knights, his parents read him stories about the history of Britain. When he was finally old enough to go to Hogwarts and voiced his desire for an owl, his parents had bought him a pudgy old cat instead.

James wouldn't say that he was underprivileged, or even _missing out_ on anything and he was far too young then to realise that anything was amiss with his childhood at all – but when he finally reached Hogwarts, when he made his first friends, when he exchanged stories and talked about home and discussed interests, he realised that he was always going to be different. Different not only from muggle children, but from many wizarding children as well.

The thought had saddened James at first – and so he strived to do anything that would help him live the childhood he never had. He played pranks on people, cast hexes and mild curses, laughed immaturely at inappropriate thing – even victimised those who were easy targets.

Looking back he realised how childish his attempt was… but then again, it was what had made James who he was that day.

And though he may have regretted many things, he was happy with who he was for the most part.

He was seeing Hogwarts from the boat for the second and last time her ever would.

Except, he was seeing it as _James Potter, head boy and Quidditch captain_ rather than _James Potter, spoilt boy and troublemaker_.

He marvelled at the change six years had brought.

He marvelled at the splendour of Hogwarts.

But lastly, and to him, probably the most importantly, he marvelled at the fact that Lily Evans' hand was in his.

He was not exceedingly happy, or excited… no, he was content.

In fact, James didn't think he'd ever been as content in his life as he was then.

And it was all thanks to Lily Evans.

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